This is the first part of a two part post. According to their home page Ayers House is ” is a boutique wedding and events venue…the very essence of Adelaide elegance. Seeking a glamourous venue, with the charm of a country estate, in a city location? Then you have found it! Ayers House is a grand stately mansion of Colonial Regency/Victorian opulence, beautifully restored to modern vintage style. Everything here is on a grand scale, the driveway sweeps, the chandeliers illuminate and the celebrations are legendary.”

As it happens my daughter has chosen Ayers house to host her wedding reception. Last week we, the wife and I, my daughter and future son-in-law, went to Ayers House to sample some of the food that we can select on that auspicious night.

Walking into Ayers House was like walking into a bit of the past as it is truly a piece of Adelaide history. Architecturally it is a marvel to hold. I could only hope that its cuisine was just as exquisite.

My Ayers House Food Review

You can see in the image above exactly what we were presented with. We were more than happy to share each others dishes so we could sample as much of the cuisine that will be on offer on the night.

For me the silver whiting was favourite. It was exquisite and truly a taste sensation. That’s not to say that the souffle was nice, just that it wasn’t as nice. The only thing that I thought was a little weird is what I thing was the pickled pumpkin.

A bunch of friends and I had a meal at the Coopers Alehouse last Wednesday and I thought it was time I posted a Coopers Alehouse Gepps Cross Review. I’ve heard a lot of good reports of the newly upgraded Coopers Alehouse so I had pretty high expectations of it.

Coopers Alehouse Gepps Cross Review Shocker

We got there about 6.30 pm and after a bit of a chat we placed an order around 6.45. The menu is pretty good in that it recommends a brew depending on what you order. I went for the Wagyu Beef Burger. “Beef & bacon pattie, monterey jack cheese, barossa gypsy speck, lettuce, tomato & tangy chipotle aioli with chips & house pickle.” The recommended brew was a mild ale and so I ordered a pint.

I have to admit I was pretty impressed with the decor as well as the ambience. The conversation was going well but we noticed, probably from all the growling stomachs, that the food was taking quite awhile. We’d been waiting for over an hour and still no site of our meal appearing. Not even a peep from the staff telling us what the hell was going on.

Some 15 minutes later they started bringing out the food. That was my Wagyu Beef Burger in the image above. The first thing I noticed was that the fries looked a little pale. I popped one into my mouth and it was immediate disappointment. It was almost cold and it could of been cooked a little more. Before I continue the Coopers Alehouse Gepps Cross Review I’m going to post a quote from their site.

The Coopers Alehouse Gepps Cross will take your taste buds on a journey, exploring and enjoying the delights of great pub food with traditionally brewed beer. We combine old fashioned hospitality in a sparkling new venue where every detail is tuned toward you – our guest. Expect delicious grazing and snack food items are perfectly paired with an extensive range of beer and a quality range of premium steaks that respects each step of the process, from paddock to plate. Our menu combines the best of regional produce with a modern, vibrant and fresh twist.

Upon reading something like that you’d expect some pretty good tucker wouldn’t you? Definitely not, less than lukewarm chips! Oh well, perhaps the burger was better. I took a bite and while it didn’t taste all that bad, something wasn’t quite right. There was a crunch to it that definitely shouldn’t be there. I inspected the burger pattie only to find that the bottom 2 mm of the pattie was over cooked and that was where the crunch came from. Not the worst burger but definitely not the best.

Overall I was pretty disappointed with my experience at the Coopers Alehouse, as were most of my friends.

Would I go there again? Probably not.

I know that it’s quite possible that we may have picked a bad night. Maybe they were short staffed in the kitchen or something. But if that was the case the staff should have done more to make the experience more pleasurable.

I love Adelaide, which is why I created the Scenic Adelaide Blog. Awhile back I wrote about the Porosa Hike Trail which is part of Cobblers Creek. The thing is there are a lot of lovely places where folk can go for a walk/jog/hike. I found another great place to take my Fitbit Charge 2 for another spin. Check out my Fitbit Charge 2 review.

The Anstey Hill Recreation Park can be found 16km north east of Adelaide. There are heaps of gates leading into Anstey Hill, but I prefer to use Gate 3 on Perseverance Road.

Anstey Hill has roughly 25 km of tracks that everyone can enjoy, from leisurely ones to tracks, like Torture Hill, that will get your heart pumping.

Anstey Hill Recreation Park Walking Trails

My personal opinion is that Anstey Hill Recreation Park is perfect for raising your fitness level. I mentioned Torture Hill earlier, I still haven’t managed to jog the whole way without stopping but I’m getting that little bit further with every visit.

The first time I explored Anstey Hill I listened to music on my iPhone. Now I prefer to listen to mother nature around me, from the babbling brook, on the way to the Newman’s Nursery ruins, to wind blowing through the trees. Not to mention the birds and the hooting of the koala’s.

I’ve even come across some grey kangaroos on some of my walks.

The views can be quite stunning as well. The image below shows the stage they’ve set up for the Adelaide Festival’s Secret River performance at the Anstey Hill Quarry.

Just up from the Newman’s Nursery ruins I cam across the stunning flowers you see there on the left. I wanted to find a bit of history of the Newman’s Nursery and it seems that it wasn’t able to survive two ‘horrific’ storms and the ensuing drought the following year.

Not satisfied with that I kept looking until I found a more complete history of the original Newman’s Nursery.

As for a more complete write-up of the Anstey Hill Recreation Park I reckon this Wikipedia article is pretty good.

When I first explored Anstey Hill my only disappointment was that, unlike Cobblers Creek, there wasn’t enough signage. To my surprise I found they had rectified that on today’s walk. Having said that I reckon they could have done a better job as sometimes I’m not sure where the hell they’re pointing at. 😉